Students
Emma Small
Team Leader
Emma Small is a senior double majoring in EPAD (Engineering Physics and Applied Design) and CAMS (Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics). They are working on modeling and hardware for iGEM. Beyond iGEM, they are heavily involved in the Society of Physics Students and spend their free time rock climbing and reading.
Emma Holley
Emma Holley is a senior majoring in Computational and Applied Mathematics & Statistics and minoring in Biology. Within the team, she works on analyzing metagenomic data and bioinformatics. Beyond iGEM, Emma enjoys leading outdoor adventure trips with the Tribe Adventure Program, as well as being an active member of the climbing club. When she’s not outdoors or in the lab, she enjoys crocheting or spending time with her pet fish.
Josh Levin
Josh Levin is a Junior majoring in Engineering Physics and Applied Design (EPAD) and minoring in Bioengineering. While he’s busy building something, searching for the theory of everything, or doing anything for that matter, he’s without a doubt listening to music. He loves reading books, watching movies, and chilling with his three dogs in his spare time.
Rachel McCarley
Rachel McCarley is a senior majoring in Chemistry and Applied Mathematics. In her free time, she enjoys horseback riding, political organizing, watching One Piece, and spending time outdoors enjoying the greenery.
Namit Nallapaneni
Namit Nallapaneni is a Junior majoring in Computational Applied Mathematics & Statistics with a focus on Mathematical Biology and minoring in Finance. When he’s not deep in the world of algorithms, you’ll find him jamming on his guitar or hunting for his next great meal. Whether it’s finding the best data structure or the best dish, he’s all about the details!
Caden Sanko
Caden Sanko is a senior Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics major with a concentration in Mathematical Biology and a second major in Public Policy. Caden is a part of the wet lab team and is working with satellite phage based vectors to perform genetic manipulations in E. coli. Outside of the lab, Caden enjoys repeatedly clicking the random article button on Wikipedia to see if anything interesting comes up. His favorite academic journal is Nucleic Acids Research.
Keertana Senthilkumar
Keertana Senthilkumar is a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience. In her spare time, she enjoys running, obsessing over niche book series for months at a time, and going to restaurants in CW with her friends. Despite a past in journalism, she struggles to write interesting third-person biographies about herself.
Sophia Stagarescu
Sophia Stagarescu is a sophomore majoring in Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics (CAMS) with a concentration in Mathematical Biology and minoring in Biochemistry. She is part of the wet lab team and loves working with everything in the lab but (not so) secretly phage satellites are her favorite. Outside of the lab, Sophia loves doing puzzles, collecting postcards, reading about cloud formation, hanging out with her cats, and rowing with her teammate (x2), Kira.
Kira Stotts
Kira Stotts is a senior majoring in both Biology and Kinesiology. In her spare time, she loves starting new crocheting projects (even if she has a plethora of unfinished crochet projects), and rowing with her teammate Sophia (although she admits that Sophia could easily defeat her in any race). Her favorite piece of lab equipment is the 25mL falcon tubes; she doesn’t quite know why but something about them just seems right.
Rebecca Zheleznyak
Rebecca Zheleznyak is a junior majoring in Applied Mathematics and minoring in Biochemistry. She is not sure what she would do in her free time due to a lack thereof. However, she would imagine that it would include finally getting through the stack of books next to her bed and finishing the list of old movies that she’s been dying to see. She also treats her phages as if they were her own kids.
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Margaret Saha
Dr. Saha is a developmental neurobiologist (and loves combining synthetic biology with development) and the primary advisor of the W&M iGEM Team. Her unwavering support was instrumental in the founding of the team in 2014, and in the team's continuation every year since then. She drinks 15 cups of coffee per day, much to the concern of some of her students. She insists it's all right.
Dr. Eric Bradley
Dr. Bradley is chair of the Applied Science Department and has previously chaired the departments of Mathematics and Biology. He is also currently representing the Dean’s Office as the Arts and Sciences Emergency and Planning Coordinator. He has been fully involved in the planning, design, construction, and resource allocation of the multiphase Integrated Science Center (ISC) and is now planning for the next phase. As a practicing scientist, Dr. Bradley has a keen interest in translating modern methods and trends in STEM education and research into new facilities that will embrace both current and future practices for integrating inclusive and effective teaching and research. Dr. Bradley loves fixing the broken equipment in our laboratory and is excellent at it!